massacre

1 of 2

noun

mas·​sa·​cre ˈma-si-kər 

1

: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty

witnessed the massacre of a boatload of refugees

2

: a cruel or wanton (see wanton entry 1 sense 1a) murder

3

: a wholesale slaughter of animals

Residents engaged in a citywide cat massacre.

4

: an act of complete destruction

… the author's massacre of traditional federalist presuppositions.

—R. G. McCloskey

the Puritan massacre of statues and pictures

—Robert Hughes

massacre

2 of 2

verb

massacred; massacring ˈma-si-k(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to kill by massacre

2

: mangle sense 2

… words were misspelled and syntax massacred.

—Bice Clemow

massacrer

ˈma-si-kər-ər 

-krər

noun

Synonyms of massacre

Noun

• slaughter

Verb

• slaughter

Examples of massacre in a Sentence

Noun

The game turned out to be a complete massacre.

the infamous massacre of more than 200 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Verb

Hundreds have been massacred in the uprising.

The other team really massacred us on Saturday.

He really massacred that song.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018. —Jim Vertuno, Los Angeles Times, 3 Jan. 2026

The Rafah Crossing is the only crossing point between Egypt and Palestine’s Gaza Strip, playing a major role in bringing aid into Gaza since the Israeli attacks that were a response to the October 7 2023 massacre. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 2 Jan. 2026

Verb

The military has been documented going on bloody rampages, torching and bombing villages, massacring residents, jailing opponents and forcing young men and women to join the army. —Ross Adkin, CNN Money, 27 Dec. 2025

In his 2000 book about the breakup of Yugoslavia, Safe Area Goražde, the Bosnian Serbs massacring their neighbors in the 1990s defended their crimes by appealing to similar killings carried out against ethnic Serbs during the Nazi-era fascist regime. —Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle French

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

massacre

1 of 2 verb

mas·​sa·​cre ˈmas-i-kər 

massacred; massacring

-k(ə-)riŋ

: to kill in a massacre : slaughter

massacrer

-i-kər-ər, 

-i-krər

noun

massacre

2 of 2 noun

: the violent and cruel killing of a number of persons